Leah trained as a language’s teacher from university, worked as a Head of Languages for 12 years and then progressed to Cross Trust lead when she joined West Norfolk Academies Trust this September.

Leah is new to the Trust but said that she has found the staff across the Trust to be very welcoming and helpful - especially as all the secondary schools are new to her all at the same time and finding her way around has been a challenge! She has found people to be really approachable and willing to help her settle in and after such a short space of time she already feels very much like part of the team

Leah said that the best part of her job is being able to work with such a dedicated and passionate group of colleagues and to see children be enthused by the learning of another language - opening eyes to the language and cultures of so many varied places around the world, and to see them grow in confidence in conversing in a foreign language.

As a new member of staff herself, the thing Leah has found most useful is having a handbook to refer to - most questions she has come up with over the last few weeks have been answered upon a glance in there and her advice is “if you can’t find the answer, make sure you have someone (who doesn't mind you knocking on their door at least fifty times a day in the first couple of weeks!) that you can ask all the little questions that pop up unexpectedly. And, obviously, ensure you know where to get hot water for a coffee at all times!”

Leah’s biggest achievement is being a mum to her own two children and, hopefully, showing them that with hard work, belief in yourself and support from people around you, you can achieve whatever you put your mind to.